Letters3 factors to weigh in letting more Hong Kong schools teach in English

As a gateway city between China and the rest of the world, Hong Kong is in a prime position to become a global education hub, so reviewing the medium of instruction is essential to ensuring our graduates and future leaders are well equipped.

How many more schools are allowed flexibility in teaching content subjects in English should depend on three factors: teachers’ language abilities, students’ readiness and schools’ language environment.

As an English teacher having been involved in cross-curriculum initiatives in Chinese-medium and English-medium schools, I suggest using the minimum IELTS (International English Language Testing System) band 7.5 for English teachers as a yardstick and imposing a requirement of band 7 on content subject teachers. This may seem harsh, but don’t forget that teachers teaching humanities, business and science have to deliver complicated concepts and refer to textbooks containing field-specific jargon and complex sentences.

With regard to students’ readiness to be taught in English, the rule requiring schools’ Form One intake to be ranked among the top 40 per cent could be tweaked to include the top 55 per cent. The rationale is that every year, around 55 per cent of Diploma of Secondary Education candidates score at least level 3 in English, the minimum required for university admission.